Domonic Brown did not touch second base. He said so. I thought it was strange he had no reaction when Kerwin Danley called him out. I mean, if he knew he touched second he would have reacted in some way. I’m not saying he would have gone Jon Rauch on Danley, but he certainly would have expressed some shock or looked into the dugout or at Juan Samuel like, “Hey, what the heck just happened here? That is the wrong call.” But he just walked back to the dugout.

Kyle Kendrick wasn’t happy about being pulled after five innings. Asked if he thought he had gotten enough from Kendrick, Charlie Manuel said, “I pulled him didn’t I?” I can’t read Manuel’s mind, but I’m guessing he had flashbacks to Kendrick’s previous start in Toronto. Manuel had Kendrick start the seventh with a one-run lead only to watch him allow a two-run homer to Jose Bautista.

*

Big series before the All-Star break. The Phillies have the best record in baseball, but guess who is just three games behind them in the National League East? Since the Braves started the season 8-12, they have the best record in the National League (44-24). The Phillies are second (43-27).

22 Comments

Did Brown really say he didn’t touch the bag? Because myself, the 3 people I watched the game with, and TMac and Wheels (or Sarge? I forget) all thought it was obvious on replay that Brown DID touch second. I agree that his non-reaction was weird, but I wouldn’t take that as proof of anything. Definitely seemed like a make-up call to me.

On radio, Larry Anderson said he did not touch the bag. The replays were inconclusive, and you were obviously led by what you were hearing instead of what you were seeing. If Brown said he didn’t touch it, what more do you need? You never get players to admit to something they didn’t do. It was a good and proper call by the umpire.

Larry Anderson and his buddy in the booth find every opportunity they can to get on Brown and never give him the benefit of the doubt, unlike the guys who do the TV play by play. You hear comments like, “I guess they didn’t have to remind him to run on that one.” They also always think he’s out even when the umps don’t..

No, I watched the replays several times and think he touched the bag. Zolecki wrote that “Instant replay showed Brown missed the bag by inches,” but I disagree. Oh well. Hopefully the Fightins can get it up for this weekend series!

Brown cost them three runs last night, one on the basepaths and two on defense. He’s going to be a stud but I guess we are going to have to watch some growing pains.
Charlie cost them the game though. Pulling Kendrick after 5 innings and 81 pitches was stupid, considering the state of the bullpen right now. And considering his option was Herndon makes it more egregious. Where’s JC Romero when you need him?

Charlie took a page out of the Bobby Cox School of Managing Pitchers. Lucky for the Phillies that the Braves have a more direct connection to the Bobby Cox School of Managing Pitchers. in Freddy Gonzalez.

Does everyone realize that Herndon never played AAA ball??? The only exception was a couple of weeks last month. He was a Rule 5 from the Angels and never played AAA in that organization. He’s like the Teflon player.There’s never any problem bouncing around Stutes and Worley to create roster spots.These are two guys who should be made to know they are big league Phillies.

The Braves have been bottom feeding with the best of them the past month. Since the end of June, the Braves have played in 9 series, all but 2 against teams with losing records. And one of the teams with winning records is the Mets, who really don’t count. Over the same time, the Phillies have played the same number of series, against 4 teams with winning records, including three of the hottest teams playing right now: the Pirates, the Cardinals, and the Red Sox. I’m not impressed with the Braves- I think they are a fraud.
Plus, the Phillies are hitting, for the first time in awhile, they are throwing their 3 best pitchers against the same team at home. I think the Braves will be lucky to steal a game and end up 4 games back at the break. But we’ll see if the Phillies can avoid playing down to their competition and just do what they do best: stomp the Braves when it really matters!

Oh except for the fact, Braves lead series with Frillies 5-4 and possess the best record in baseball over the last month. We play the hand we are dealt, no? Looks like that lead is really evaporating. Hear the footsteps????

Best record in baseball over the last month? Let’s see who has the best record when it counts – the last day. If memory serves me correctly weren’t the Braves about 4 games up this time last year? The Braves have already shot there wad.

Nice post Steve. This year is a mirror image of last year when the Phillies were devastated by injuries to all of their core players in the first half and played even with the Braves, but couldn’t close the gap of 3 or 4 games for the longest time. That was until two things happened. Injuries healed and the Phillies’ late season hot hitting kicked in. By September, it was only WC hopes for the Bravos.
Things are different this year, as the Phils are even better than last year with the addition of Cliff Lee and the miracle of Vance Worley if he’s not a mirage.

Is it just me or have Wheels and McCarthy become insufferable? I know they are on the team payroll, but the constant whining about the strike zone, covering for bad at bats and fielding blunders, always an excuse (especially Wheels) is getting old. Wheeler’s best line of the night was that you could see the 2nd base bag depress when Brown’s foot hit it. God, do I miss Richie, at least he called a game honestly.
Rant over.

Absolutely, Jimmy. Insufferable is the word. If you want honest opinion you have to go to the radio with L.A. and Franske. Wheeler is an excuse maker and McCarthy is just too chatty for me.
Also, notice that in every game there is at least a half-inning where they just yammer about something that has nothing to do with the game. One Sunday they had Billie Jean King in the booth, another they had Mike Schmidt. Last night it was the birthday celebration. It’s predictable to the extent that I’m sure they have production meetings about it.
It’s difficult to get other media outlets to say anything, since they’re all co-owned and affiliates of something or other, so nobody wants to rock the boat.

Muleman…
I happen to like TM, GM, and CW. They’re like going to the game with friends. Wheels Is the only link I have left to Whitey and Harry, both of whom I miss immensely.
So why don’t you stop whining and enjoy the games however you must.

muleman, I sadly agree. the tv-audio feed has been toxic, imho, for years. I’ve long sync’d the mlb.com audio feed with the broadcast video.

with the advent of the “t-max/wheels variety show” (so correctly identified by muleman, etal.) I now use a third monitor and stream the “opposition” video broadcast from mlb.com. thus, I can see the actual game while those boobs in the (tv) booth pass gass – on camera.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.